KITCHEN PANS - Paella Pan to Sauce Pan

Paella is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, a lagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain.Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain's national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish. Valencians, in turn, regard paella as one of their identifying symbols. There are three widely known types of paella: Valencian paella (Spanish: paella valenciana), seafood paella (Spanish: paella de marisco) and mixed paella (Spanish: paella mixta), but there are many others as well. Valencian paella consists of white rice, green vegetables, meat (rabbit, chicken, duck), land snails, beans and seasoning. Seafood paella replaces meat and snails with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables. Mixed paella is a free-style combination of meat, seafood, vegetables, and sometimes beans. Most paella chefs use calasparra or bomba rices for this dish. Other key ingredients include saffron and olive oil. Paella usually has a layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the pan called socarrat in Spain. This is considered a delicacy there and is essential to a good paella. The toasted rice develops on its own if the paella is cooked over a burner or open fire. If cooked in an oven, however, it will not. To correct this, place the paellera over a high flame while listening to the rice toast at the bottom of the pan. Once the aroma of toasted rice wafts upwards, remove it from the heat. The paella must then sit for about five minutes (most recipes recommend the paella be covered with a towel at this point) to absorb the remaining broth.

A roasting pan is a pan that is designed to withstand high oven temperatures for a long-time. It also better be pretty big and strong to hold turkeys, chickens, hams, or roasts with lots of vegetables. Often the roasting or roaster pan will come with a cover and/or a roasting rack. The first decision you have to make when choosing a roaster pan is whether it will be disposable or not. Many people opt not to store the large pan when they aren't using it. If they are preparing a turkey for a church supper or family dinner they prefer to take a disposable roaster pan. They have the advantage of not cleaning it and lugging it home. Disposable roasting pans come in handy when you've only got one roasting pan and you're cooking a turkey and aham for the family reunion. It cuts down on anyone forgetting to bring an extra roasting pan for you to use.

A formed metal rack that is placed in the bottom of a roasting pan in order to keep foods raised above the bottom of the pan. The rack allows excess fat to drain from the food (especially meat) and it helps prevent the bottom of the food from burning or scorching. It also allows the food to cook evenly on all sides. Specially formed racks, such as the poultry racks and the v-shaped meat racks can also be used on the grill for the same intended purpose as when used in the oven. They will help the meat hold its shape and allow it to cook more evenly. Roasting racks are formed into different shapes and sizes to hold various types of meats, poultry, fish, and other foods. As an example, different shaped or sized roasting racks are made for ribs, roasts, chicken, game hens, vegetables, and various other foods.

A saucepan is a cooking vessel generally used on top of a range for heating food and / or reducing sauces. Saucepans can be made of a variety of materials, like aluminium and stainless steel, and the cooking surface can have a non-stick coating, like Teflon. As with all pans the heavier the gauge of the metal the better (especially at the base); it enables more even heat distribution, which makes sticking and burning less likely. Some saucepans have a thick sheet of thermally conductive aluminium laminated into their base for that purpose . A coating of copper on the base allegedly has the same effect, but it would need to be reasonably thick to have any real benefit. High-sided sauce pans are most useful for heating foods with high liquid content. Low-sided and flare-sided (called Windsor pans) saucepans are most effective for reducing sauces and other liquids.